Every room at Disney’s Gran Destino Tower comes equipped with its own Keurig. That’s going to come in handy for the Nuggets.
Denver opens its eight seeding games at Disney World with a bright and early 1 p.m. EST matchup against the Miami Heat on Aug. 1. In total, four of the Nuggets’ eight seeding games, which were revealed Friday, tip off prior to 5 p.m. Florida time. It will surely be an adjustment for NBA players who play pretty much all of their games after the sun goes down.
Games begin at Disney World on July 30 with the Jazz facing off against the Pelicans at 6:30 p.m. ET. The Clippers and Lakers then follow at 9 p.m. ET.
Here’s the Nuggets’ eight-game seeding schedule:
How the Nuggets can capture the No. 2 seed
The Nuggets (43-22) will travel to Disney trailing the Clippers (44-20) by 1 1/2 games for the second seed in the West. It’s a No. 2 seed that both teams will want because whoever gets it will face the team that fared the worst over the eight seeding games out of the Jazz, Thunder, Rockets, and Mavericks.
Here’s the good news: The toughest opponent on both the Nuggets and Clippers seeding game schedule is the Lakers. The Nuggets get the Lakers in their fifth game of their eight, meaning LeBron James and Anthony Davis will have likely clinched the top seed in the West by then. Both players will probably rest that game. The Clippers open their Disney World slate against the Lakers in a game that both teams will try and win.
Here’s the bad: The Nuggets have the toughest strength of schedule over their eight seeding games in the Western Conference, per Jacob Goldstein, and the third most-difficult schedule out of the 22 teams heading to Disney World. The Clippers have the ninth-easiest.
The Nuggets are currently 43-22. The Clippers are 44-20. If Denver goes 6-2 over its eight games and the Clippers go 4-4, the Nuggets would get the two seed. That’s going to be tough. But if the Clippers falter enough early on, the Aug. 12 matchup between the two teams could determine the West’s second seed.
The four seed is in play for Denver
Could the Nuggets fall to the four seed? It’s certainly possible. The Jazz (41-23) currently trail the Nuggets by 1 1/2 games for the three seed and have the 10th-easiest schedule out of the 22 teams. Utah doesn’t face the Clippers or Rockets and will also play the Spurs twice.
The Aug. 8 matchup between the Nuggets and Jazz could be a very meaningful game.
The Nuggets don’t play the Rockets
If the playoffs started today, the Nuggets would face the Rockets in the first round of the playoffs despite the fact that Denver hasn’t played Houston since it traded Clint Capela and doubled down on a small ball approach. Fast forward to the first round of the playoffs which is slated to begin in mid-August and Denver could still match up with Houston after the eight seeding games without having played the Rockets in their current form.
The Nuggets will play every current West playoff team except for the Rockets and the eighth-seeded Grizzlies across their eight seeding games. For my money, a Nuggets/Rockets first-round matchup would be the most fascinating first-round series in the league.
It’s going to feel like Summer League, but the games actually matter
There’s truly nothing like the Las Vegas Summer League where games begin early in the afternoon and go deep into the night. With two gyms side by side and sometimes nine or 10 games per day, it’s a hooper’s paradise.
That’s what the first two weeks at Disney World will feel like, except the eight seeding games will actually matter. From July 30 through Aug. 14, there will be a maximum of seven games per day tipping off between 1 p.m. and 9 p.m. EST. Three courts — the HP Field House, The Arena and the Visa Athletic Center — will house all the games. Nationally televised games will take place at the HP Field House and The Arena.
Thank God for national TV
It’s hard to believe that the Altitude/Comcast dispute occurred this season, but if you remember way back to March most Nuggets fans were not able to watch locally televised games. Back in November, Altitude filed an antitrust lawsuit against Comcast alleging that Comcast is illegally using its monopoly power in the Denver region to drive Altitude out of business, take over its license to air Nuggets and Avalanche games, and overcharge customers.
Perhaps the two sides could come to a good-faith agreement of sorts and work out a deal to air the eight seeding games, which will all be broadcast on Altitude TV, on Comcast. If they don’t, five of the Nuggets’ eight seeding games — against Miami (ESPN), Oklahoma City (TNT), Utah (TNT), Lakers (TNT), Clippers (ESPN) — are scheduled to air on national television. Fire up that totally legal stream for those other matchups.
It’s to be determined if the Nuggets’ final game of their eight against the Raptors will be watched by a national audience, and the tip-off time for each team’s last seeding game will be determined at a later date in order to provide the most compelling matchups to a national audience, according to the league.
Wind’s Prediction: The Nuggets go 6-2 with wins over the Thunder, Spurs, Trail Blazers, Jazz, Lakers and Raptors with losses to the Heat and Clippers and keep the three seed.
